Trust was supposed to be the foundation of this place. That’s why I joined — to find people who had my back. But now, I didn’t know who to trust.
Maybe I never had. Maybe I’d just been pretending.
In my room, the soft glow from the fairy lights didn’t warm me like it used to. I stared at the framed photo of our pledge class, smiling back at me with bright eyes and hopeful faces. I wondered how many of them were hiding pieces of the truth and if I could ever believe in them again.
The whole situation was eating me up.What was I going to do?
I knew I couldn’t do this much longer. The anxiety and anger constantly simmering in the pit of my stomach was growing and growing, consuming me from the inside out.
There was a knock on my door. “Yes?”
I was sitting on my bed, facing the door, when Jas stuck her head in. “Hey. Mind if I come in?” I motioned for her to enter.
Her makeup was flawless, her hair in a cute half-up, half-down style, and… I had never seen her inthatoutfit before, which was odd. I was pretty sure I knew her wardrobe inside out. We often swapped clothes or helped each other put outfits together.
Narrowing my eyes, I took a closer look, trying to figure out where I’d seen this dress before. “What’s up?” I asked casually as I continued to study her.
“Just wanted to try to persuade you to come with me tonight?”
David’s frat was throwing one of their mixers tonight, where alumni and potential future employers would be in attendance.
Normally, I would be psyched for this kind of thing. Right now, though, I couldn’t imagine anything more ghastly than spending the evening surrounded by people who had spit on not only me but everything we were supposed to stand for.
I scoffed. “Hard pass. I don’t feel like seeing David’s stupid face, and besides, I have enough to do with this project. We have the presentation in a few days.”
Jas pursed her glossy lips and smoothed a hand down her dress. “Oh, come on, I’ll be there—”
All of a sudden, I knew where I recognized the dress from. “Tom Ford.”
“Excuse me?” Jas looked at me uneasily.
Slowly, deliberately, I raised my eyebrows. “That’s the dress we saw at Nordstrom. The one byTom fucking Ford.” Tilting my head slightly, I watched her carefully.
“Oh, yeah,” Jas laughed, deliberately light-hearted. “It was on sale, so I just had to buy it.”
“Is that right? Theseven thousand dollar dresswas so heavily discounted that you could easily afford it?”.
I could see her throat bobbing as she swallowed. “Yes, well, my parents sent me some money.”
Jasmine came from an ordinary, middle-class family.
“Really? How come you didn’t tell me? I mean, you usually text me when you splurge on a fancy coffee. How come you didn’t tell me about thisincredible bargainyou stumbledupon?” I pursed my lips and raised my hands in an ’oh, really?’ gesture.
She chuckled lightly, trying to wave me off. “Si, you’ve just been so busy lately, I didn’t want to bother you.”
“No more than usual.”
“Come on, Si, what is this about? Are you seriously mad at me for not telling you about a dress I got on sale?” She looked at me with her brows drawn together, but I didn’t miss the way her eyes flicked to the side for a moment.
Gotcha.
“I think,” I said, my voice quiet and sober, “you know exactly what I’m getting at, Jas.”
Her eyebrows shot up for a blink, her eyes widening slightly before she regained her composure.
“I have no fucking idea what you’re talking about, Sierra. What do you want from me?” Now she was getting defensive.
Not surprising. I knew Jas well enough to know that she would bite if backed into a corner.
